Windmill Equipment Manufacturers to Compensate Customers for Cracked Blades

Suzlon, the world's fifth-biggest wind-turbine makers, have set aside a huge $139 million dollars to compensate customers for cracked blades.

Windmill energy is more of a scam in India than any meaningful contribution. There is a nexus between manufacturers, end users and electricity board officials everywhere. They all make a neat pie in the name of government subsidies for alternative energy, it is generally said.

But in these days of skyrocketing crude prices, wind energy is beginning to be taken seriously the world over. It is in such a backdrop Suzlon, a turbine giant, have come forward with their offer to compensate disappointed customers.

Suzlon will pay John Deere Wind Energy and Edison Mission Energy for output losses resulting from defective turbine blades, Chief Financial Officer Kirti Vagadia told investors in Singapore today. About 6 percent of its 1,251 V-2 series, 2.1-megawatt blades are cracked, he said, according to Bloomberg news agency.

Ahmedabad, India-based company's shares have fallen 46 percent this year because of concerns that blade defects may prompt customers to cancel orders. Last month, a unit of Southern California power company Edison International declined to take delivery of 150 turbines after it complained of receiving faulty equipment, Suzlon said.

According to recent reports, Suzlon's turbines installed at wind farms of John Deere were not producing enough power due to technical issues such as inability to adapt to the US power grid. Suzlon had supplied over 250 wind turbines to John Deere and Co.